Max words

Max has such great language skills these days but he still sometimes mangles big words or creates his own words in the most adorable toddler way.  For example...

When he was taking a nap and I asked him if he was ready to wake up, he said "I need to sleep more.  Can I have four more scampers of a nap?"

After a recent birthday party with a pinata, he told me that he he turns four, he wants to have a "piati".

While driving by the house of a neighbor family of ours who is on a year long sabbatical in England, Max asked me "When are Benjamin and Zachary moving back to Earth?"

Readers read

Readers read... At friends' birthday parties.

Slumber party

There are 6 bedrooms in this house and yet all the kids are together in one.

First day of school

Max's big siblings walked him in on his first day of school this fall.  I had been joking with Ella that I would make her hold hands with her brothers every day when they all go to the same school together next year and she has acted horrified by the idea. But at least this year, she grabbed their hands and waltzed them in with zero prompting from me.

Max has a plan

We are on an epic road trip and towards the end of a long stretch of driving, Max said the following to me:

"OK, mom, here's the plan.  If you give me one more toy, I will be happy.  If you don't, I will be bad.  And it's NOT funny!"

Reading boy

Saturday afternoon. House is pretty quiet. I go looking for Max and find him on his bed.  He looks up and says "Hi, Mom.  I'm just reading the books".

Big boy bed

For the first time in over 9 years, we don't have a crib in our house.  Max hadn't tried to escape from the crib but he was getting so tall that we worried he might topple out head first over the side rails when we stood up.  He was SO excited to set up his big bed this weekend and he has taken to it like a duck to water.  Of course that means he filled it with stuffed animals and books but at least he is staying put all night long.  When he discovered tonight that I could climb in to lay down and give him a hug, his smile and giggle were just too much.  Such a sweet big boy in his big boy bed. 

Third kid

Continuing to be the quintessential third kid, Max plopped himself down on the wet pool deck and put his little chin in his hands to resignedly watch the big kids in their final swim meet of the season.

Merit badges for moms

Josh is out of town and the big kids have morning swim practice. So today I got all 3 kids up and dressed by 6:30 am including swim bags packed (suits, towels, flippers, caps, goggles oh my), camp bags packed (including the key and often forgotten underwear needed once they change out of swim suits), breakfast to eat at swim team prepared (grilled cheeses even kept warm in foil),  camp lunches prepared, and entertainment for the 2 hours Max has to sit at the pool during practice.  Once we're there, it is 70 degrees and raining but still they practice.  Some days the mom-ing seems merit badge worthy.

Kanatagram

Ella is at overnight camp for the first time and she has been gone all of 3 hours.  The boys already miss her so Dash is taking advantage of modern technology to send her a Kanatagram which is basically an email they print and pass out to the campers each day.  His typing is painfully slow and he is offended that the computer keeps telling him things are misspelled but seeing his sweet note to her starting with "Hi,Ella,It'sMeDash!" warms my heart.

Fridge display

Max made a picture and hung it on the fridge entirely on his own.  He used 11 magnets so clearly he wants it to stay up awhile.

Hard work

Last summer, Dashiell had to be rescued by a coach during every swim meet which was stressful for him and for us. He was never in danger but he was scared that he couldn't make it across the pool so he would grab the rope and never quite managed to really swim any meaningful distance.

So this winter we decided he would take weekly private swim lessons to make this summer more successful.  Week after week we fit in a trip to a pool far from our house to meet with a super great instructor who patiently worked with him to get his body horizontal in the water (swimming vertically is rather difficult...).  By April he was able to swim across the pool and tread water and his confidence was high.

When swim team started this summer, he jumped in at tryouts with a bundle of confidence and wowed his coaches (who well remembered his frequent rescues from last year). He has been swimming lap after lap at practice this year, looking like a real swimmer.

And tonight, he took the "green band" test at our pool which determines swimming skills good enough to go down the water slide and off the diving board (green is the highest level). He was super confident and indeed, he rocked that test.  His giant grin when he finished was the payoff for all those winter months of work.  It has been amazing to watch him work so hard and to achieve this goal. 

Friday summer nights

I hope they always remember the early summer nights where the pool still feels like a huge treat and we linger on Friday evenings as the sun sets. 

Amazon box

Best package I ever got from Amazon.

But really, their excitement level over a big box was impressive. "Mommy, do not recycle that box! When are you going to unpack that box? Can we have that box? Who gets to be the first one in the box?"

Max projects

Max loves a good "project" which, best I can tell, involves anything he can do with scissors.  Yesterday, I came into the kitchen to find this display. He took Ella's scalloping scissors, cut and decorated the paper, and then went rummaging in my office closet for the little clips to make it all stand up.

Fruit fiend

Dashiell could eat fruit until the end of time.  Last night after dinner he asked if he could make a fruit salad for dessert.  I gave him a kid's knife (great gift, Mimi and Biggie!) and let him go at it.  He was SO pleased with himself and gobbled up his handiwork in about 3 seconds.

Trampoline

If you wait out the big kids long enough at a party, they will get tired of the trampoline, leaving it totally to the little guy.

MAX

We pulled into a parking lot yesterday and Max hopped out of the car and said "Mama, mama, come see! You gotta see!" I walked over to see him pointing at this sign and he told me "See, it says MAX! For me!"

Foreward head

"Mama, I banged my forward head so I got a bandaid for it". 

A new book

It was a beautiful day today and I was feeling chipper.  So when Ella walked out of school saying she had finished book 2 in a new series but her friend was only 1/4 of the way through the school library copy of book 3, I decided to be the best mom.  So we walked down the street to the local bookstore (yay for urban schools!) and bought books 3 AND 4.  Gotta bank the mom points when I can.  Ella couldn't wait to start them on the way home. 

Hamilkids

We listen to a LOT of Hamilton around here.

If you ask anyone in our family what time it is, they will tell you "Showtime!" (Even Max)

If you say "Here comes the General!" they will say "Rise up!" (Even Max)

Ella can sing all of the words to You'll be Back and she says the way she imagines King George is in his underwear.

Dash can sing all of Aaron Burr, Sir, but he says he is better at the Burr part than the Hamilton part.

I did accidentally buy the explicit version instead of the clean one so we have had some discussion about which words aren't good to use at school. 

But man, overall, I love the music, love how much history we've all learned, and love love love coming down to the kids floor and hearing them sing Hamilton songs together in the shower.

Freckles

We met a woman on vacation who told Dash that his freckles are the pointy ends of his nerves of steel.  He likes to ask how many new ones he got after a day in the sun. A lot, my friend, and I love every one of 'em.

Personality

We frequently say that it is too bad this guy has so little personality.

Dashiell's career plans

Dash: Mom, when I grow up, I am going to be a naturologist

Me: Awesome, tell me more.

Dash: Well, I love nature and naturologists study nature.  Also, do you know that I love nature more than anything in the world?  I didn't say I loved you the most of anything in the world, you know why? Because you are nature!